Grand Hotel

The building looks lovely and the grounds are beautiful BUT the room wasn’t great , the bathroom had an old shower curtain and the shower was above the bath. The bed was uncomfortable and the room was small and dark. it was my birthday and there was no mention of this even though my husband had given advanced information. The buffet and dining room looked spectacular but the food quality wasn’t what we were expecting given the visual wow factor. My least favourite hotel whilst staying in Sri Lanka.

Fabulous hotel, wonderful breakfast and very attentive staff. Only thing missing was sun loungers outside somewhere. Beautiful gardens.

Lovely beautifully preserved period colonial property. Staff very good. Restaurants excellent - large breakfast buffet, afternoon tea fantastic and had two very good meals at the Indian and Thai restaurants. There is one thing that really lets it down though and that is the loud music played during afternoon tea by a flautist to a backing soundtrack and the live band in the bar at night. In my opinion both overly loud and really impact the ambience.

Every aspect of this hotel can be improved. First the Pro - the Hotel was Grand and impressive from outside. Breakfast was good and had variety. The Indian restaurant in a seperate building from the hotel had incredible food. The outside grounds were well designed. Cons - The staff were very upper lip and lacked English speaking skills. The rooms need major modernization and lacked simple Phone charging USB ports. The sinks drained very very slow. The plumbing needs upgrading. The Shower Tub needs a Glass enclosure instead of the flimsy curtain that blows open and wets the outside area. The electric fireplace was noisy and had an ancient look. The property had a British feeling but lacked warmth and was ancient in appearance.

One of the nicest hotels we have stayed in, wonderful staff and an incredible building!

Excellent

The hotel promises a grand experience but falls short of that. Upon arrival there are many staff buzzing around you, which is unnecessarily overwhelming. The room was musty smelling but staff did nothing about that. Several things didn’t work, but were not fixed, despite profuse promises that they were doing everything to take care of us. Hallway noise was clearly heard through the door, which was a problem since there were so many families with small loins children who came from different cultures and had vastly different levels of concern for other guests. Four restaurants, and the food was good, but priced at the level of major cities in the US. Beds, however, were excellent and the buffet for breakfast was also excellent. But not enough for us to return.

Pros: Location, Garden around the property, restaurants outside the property Cons; Very old, uneven floors inside the room, bathroom smells of sewage, musty smelling rooms, only one lift in one corner of huge floors resulting in a lot of walking, unresponsive staff, cold/poor quality breakfast buffet, staff wanted to charge me LKR 2800/- for an extra veg sandwich when I asked them to pack it for the morning of my checkout. I had paid for a full buffet breakfast for 3 and was unable to have it due to an early checkout. Very disappointing stay at Grand!

Excellent property, old world charm, over hundred year old hotel meticulously kept. Food was great at the Magnolia restaurant. The management and staff were great and made our stay comfortable.

Hotel with lots of historic character. Admin/hotel check-in staff was ok - just like any other mass hotel no customized attention or recognition of guests. Breakfast staff was very courteous.

She was a grand lady totally elegant. The staff was par excellance.

We were surprised by the size and substance of the building which combines Tudor and Edwardian style. The staff were charming and their service was faultless. Most cocktails were delicious and the food top notch.

Very nice hotel with a traditional feel. Service is good but felt the level of service was not consistent for all guests. On occasions western guests got treated differently, eg with more attention vs guests of an ethnic origin. The service in general was very slow. We had to wait over 25 mins for a simple tea! The pool and gym area are nice as well as the gardens

The Grand Hotel is a nice place with a good location to see Nuwara Eliya. The hotel itself was very nice, but the rooms were poor, and need an upgrade. The Thai restaurant made amazing food. But! The staff at this property were the worst I have ever experienced, and my family and I experienced several situations with issues. First there was an issue with my mom wanting to go to the pool, which she was told she could, but when she got down to the pool area, she was told she was not allowed, even though there were only three people there and 12 empty chairs, so she was sent back to her room. Secondly, my dad wanted to enter the gym and sauna, and was told the same, he could not enter, event though nobody was there. The staff was so unfriendly and not helpful at all. Lastly, the worst things of all was, that we had paid for 4 breakfasts, but my wife could not join the trip, so we had paid for one extra and wanted to invite our Sri Lankan friend to join us for breakfast. The staff made a big issue with this, and that we had to pay for one extra, even though we were still four people, so we ended up paying for 5 breakfasts and only being 4. We were not met at all, and they were so unpolite to us the entire stay. When we checked out, the staff asked how our stay was, and we said it had not been good due to the many issues we had, and then the staff just walked away to another couple and asked them about their stay, so not listening at all. I would NOT recommend this place.

I loved the service, very colonial, staff are pleasant and helpful, food is excellent. I love the manager Ms. Kalahari, she is very helpful, pleasant and very professional. I will go back to this hotel.

Historical hotel with plenty of staff but overall it is overrated. Poor value for money.

Amazing charm and grandeur! Excellent friendly staff. Perfectly manicured garden. Recent improvements have definitely elevated the comfort in the rooms and common areas. Will come again!

Excellent rooms,service,bars and food. Very welcoming manager at the cocktail bar who was great.lots of restaurants and bar and a very unique hotel in Sri Lanka.highly recommend it to to anyone who comes to this part of Sri Lanka

We had a very enjoyable and comfortable two days stay. No complaints. Our room was nice and spacious, with a bay window and seating area. You do need to be a bit agile to climb out of the shower, which is over a bath with high sides. We tried several of the restaurants and the cafe. All were good. Service can be a bit patchy, but really, who cares when you are in such lovely premises with outstanding garden areas. We were very pleased to have chosen to spend two nights here; one night is not enough to fully appreciate what is on offer.

Lovely classic old hotel. Perfect position to walk into town but also a bit on the quieter side too. Nice walks around quiet neighboring houses too. It’s a beautiful historic building with exceptional gardens. The rooms are spacious and older in style, so some people might not like the older quirks, but we loved it and would definitely recommend it. The staff were all very friendly and the food in the buffet breakfast was excellent plus the Indian restaurant on the entrance side of the property was great too. Loved our stay there.